1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to interactive computer systems, and more particularly to a system for augmenting human functions for persons with disabilities. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a system for remotely exploring and interacting with an environment, especially for persons with disabilities.
This invention is made with government support under contract number IIS-9813548, awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government may have certain rights in this invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The importance of play on children""s cognitive and motor development has long been realized. Development is considered to be strongly dependent on learning through observation and direct manipulation of one""s environment. This realization has been the basis of several virtual reality rehabilitation applications for children. Giving children control of their environment is a key functional goal in the clinical delivery of assistive technology. For example, powered mobility vehicles allow disabled children to experience movement and control and can facilitate their social, cognitive, perceptual, and functional development.
The most commonly used power mobility vehicle is a motorized wheelchair. There are drawbacks to the use of powered mobility vehicles. For example, it is not always apparent that the user can benefit from powered mobility, because the activity and effort of propelling a wheelchair for any length of time depletes the energy of these individuals. In addition, the use of powered mobility vehicles compromises productivity in other areas of life. Also, for children with severe motor disabilities, it is difficult to establish an appropriate control interface given existing assistive technology.
Studies have shown that the interactivity and three-dimensionality of a virtual reality environment is enormously beneficial to spatial learning by disabled children. The result of experiments that investigated transfer of spatial skills between different virtual environments confirmed that the skills disabled children acquired using virtual reality environments improved with exposure to successive environments. A control experiment compared three-dimensional and two-dimensional exploration, finding the former to be superior.
To overcome these problems and to take advantage of the results of previous experiments, a system that allows the user to interact with his environment needs to be developed. It would be preferable for this system to use a three-dimensional feedback mechanism, such as that provided by virtual reality, rather than, using a conventional computer monitor or other two-dimensional feedback mechanism. Applicants are not aware of any commercially viable systems that provide these features.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a personal augmentation device (PAD) which will be actuated by a computer-based system having the potential for being universal, portable, and modular.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system by which an operator may remotely explore and interact with an environment through the use of a remote exploration device that provides three-dimensional sensory feedback from the remote exploration device to the user through a feedback device.
It is yet another object of the present invention to utilize a computer-based system that provides children with motor disabilities with opportunities to navigate and manipulate their external environment. The system allows the children to tele-interact, thereby unlocking their cognitive abilities, promoting curiosity, and providing a sense of entitlement to explore, as well as foster cognitive development.
It is a further object to provide a computer system coupled to a simple, inexpensive sensor and interface technology for allowing a variety of mobility options to become available to a disabled individual, such as computer-control of a remote-controlled wheelchair, a remote-controlled car or robotic device.
It is yet a further object to provide a computer system coupled to a sensor and interface technology for allowing a variety of remote sensing, operating, and mobility options to become available to an individual who seeks to remain immobile or distant from the area being explored or operated upon, such as computer control of a remote-controlled car, weapon, surveillance drone, or other robotic device.
It is yet another object to provide a system that can be used to test and further develop the child""s ability to control devices through control of the PAD.
According to one broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system comprised of an interface to enable interaction with a computer-based system using one or more customized sensors. The sensors output signals which are representative of user inputs to a microcontroller-based data acquisition box (DAQ). The DAQ uses software to map user inputs to control a personal augmentation device (PAD) and to assess and process user input. The PAD then acts on the environment for the user. The movement of the PAD is fed back to the user either two-dimensionally or using virtual reality. The user must interpret this information as being mapped to his/her inputs and continue to respond.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of evaluating and training for the development of cognitive, functional and perceptual skills by detecting the input of a user with one or more sensors, and mapping the input of the user to controls of a personal augmentation device by a microcontrolled data acquisition box.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for evaluating and training for the development of cognitive, functional and perceptual skills, the system comprising: one or more sensors for generating input data, data acquisition means for acquiring said input data, and mapping means for mapping said input data to controls of a personal augmentation device.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.